Tulip & Hound News

Pluto

Sat, 30 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Written around the same time Neil deGrasse Tyson was receiving hate mail from third graders, Pluto is a short poem by Angela Cummings. We are re-releasing it ahead of the fifteenth anniversary of the former planet’s demotion.

Pluto

by Angela Cummings

Pluto, you are out. Just like that.

Heartless.

As if none of us could relate to you—

not quite big enough for our own britches,

not pulling all of our own weight.

You are not a survivor of this reality show.

And now, the pejoratives:

“Dwarf,” “outcast,” the embarrassing “planette.”

You need some savvy P.R., Pluto—

an interview with Diane Sawyer,

a good turn on “Dancing with the Stars.”

Children all over earth pluck

your tiny likeness from their mobiles.

I have to wonder: will plutonium seek a new sponsor?

Who will bat ninth for the galaxy?

Must you be known as only a mousey mouse’s dog?

Unsavory.

Still, you glide on, if awkwardly, if slowly.

It is dark out there. Mercury is nervous.

Copyright © 2006 by Angela Cummings.
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Small-Scale Traditional Publishing

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We are passionate about supporting writers, so this article lays out situations in which the print run approach, which is used by Tulip & Hound, might be the right – or wrong – choice for authors to publish their books compared to other alternatives.

When It Is Not the Right Choice

There are only a few ways in which a book can be published. Here are the ones where publishers using print runs do not do well:

The author wants ebook only.
Print runs and our model are only applicable to publishing books that will be available in print. For ebooks only, it is better to self-publish or engage a specialized publisher.
The author is working with a traditional publishing company.
Small publisher with print runs would not be a better choice. At least in our case, even though we can offer higher royalties, we cannot offer the same scale of distribution and selling.
An Amazon-only paperback.
The best option here seems to be, curiously, to self-publish through IngramSpark with a 30% discount.¹ On an $8.99 260-page paperback, the royalty would be 20%. Our own model would yield only 15% on Amazon in this example, but it does unlock other channels.²

When It Might Be the Right Choice

Small publishers using print runs can offer an interesting alternative to authors who are considering self-publishing or have been self-publishing. The model makes it possible to offer books at price points that are comparable to large publishers, and with larger share of the list price left for bookstores and the author.

Let’s take a look how this works, what possibilities it offers, and what limitations there are specifically in our model.

Printing Books

There are only two approaches to producing a book: printing on demand with individual copies made as they are ordered, and manufacturing in print runs at larger volumes, typically on offset presses.

Printing on demand is the manufacturing method of choice in self-publishing, and it is used by most small publishers. It is closely tied to its distribution channels. It has many advantages which are detailed on websites of companies that offer these services.

Tulip & Hound is a tiny publisher, but we are in the category that does not use print-on-demand. Our goal is to offer good terms to authors and bookstores and to contribute to the environment; and all that takes money. Printing books on demand might not seem expensive, but it is, especially compared to offset printing.

Print Run Advantages

Using print runs allows us to drastically lower the production costs, and use this reduction for the following:

List the book at a competitive price,
Offer an attractive discount to bookstores, and
Give the author higher royalties.

Competitive Price: Lower price does mean smaller per-book amounts for the bookstore, the author, and the publisher. On the other hand, if the title is priced too high, it will not sell. Print runs allow us to be competitive, sell more books, and give everyone a better deal at the same time.

Bookstore Discount: Bookstores need a minimum discount of 40%. (Note that this is different from IngramSpark discount.³) We built our model to allow for a 47% discount.

Higher Royalties: Lastly, our model makes sure the author gets a higher percentage from the list price than if they were to self-publish.⁴ And we give more to the author than what we keep.

If these advantages look good, what is the catch?

The Fine Print

You should always carefully consider the terms, if you need to pay for anything, and what the publisher will do for you. In our model, there are no upfront payments, hidden fees, or usurpation of author’s rights. We can even offer advance payments to authors who can demonstrate their book can sell.

Our model does have a limitation though, and it’s important.

Limited Distribution: At this time, our scale is not large enough to be attractive for wholesalers.⁵ This means a bookstore cannot simply order the book through a wholesaler, and we rely on individual agreements for stocking the books.

We cannot offer the distribution scope and selling that the ‘big five’ publishers offer. Despite this limitation, a print run model is a step-up from self-publishing.

Conclusion

Before publishing our first title, we looked at options based on print-on-demand, but we did not find a way to achieve a good deal for bookstores combined with a good compensation for the author.

That is why we based our model on print runs. It allows us to match or surpass the reach realistically available through print-on-demand channels while offering a better deal to the authors and bookstores that choose it.

External Resources

If you would like to explore this topic further, we recommend the following articles:

How to Evaluate Small Publishers—Plus Digital-Only Presses and Hybrids by Jane Friedman.
Publishing with a Small (Traditional) or University Press: When It Might Be Right for You and Your Book by Lisa Romeo on Nonfiction Authors Association.

It seems Amazon is less eager to sell books distributed this way, so a better option might be Amazon KDP (even though the royalties are smaller). If you have experience with this model, please let us know. ↩
Note that our model requires paid shipping on Amazon, not to undercut bookstores. Royalties on other channels in this example would be 27% on website sales, and 11% on bookstore sales. The advantage is more pronounced on hardcovers because they are very expensive in print-on-demand. ↩
IngramSpark wholesale discount has to cover also the distribution cost. A 40% discount for bookstore requires a 55% IngramSpark wholesale discount. ↩
The comparison is based on self-publishing a given book at the list price and discount that is achievable through the Tulip & Hound model. ↩
The access to wholesalers is not limited by the percentage they require but by the volume of books sold. ↩

Supporting Independent Bookstores

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We believe in generously supporting artists, communities, and the environment. A key part of supporting our communities is providing favorable conditions to local and indie bookstores. How can we achieve this while keeping the remaining two parts of our promise?

The Challenge

This question comes down to whether a small publisher can generate enough profit to provide above average terms to bookstores while also paying well the authors and contributing to the environment.

One parameter that can seemingly achieve this goal is price. But increasing the price is not a solution. The fact is that overpriced books sell poorly. Our goal is to get books into people’s hands, and to create some economic good in the process.

The Problem with Print-on-Demand

Printing on demand allows more books and more varied books to be available. But its economics are not a good fit for our goal, as seen in the following example of a 300-page black and white hardcover with a 40% discount for bookstores and 10% of the list price for author:

List price	$26.99
Printing cost	$9.57
55% wholesale discount, split to:
– Ingram distribution (15%)	$4.05
– Bookstore discount (40%)	$10.80
Author’s compensation (9.5%)	$2.57

(This example used IngramSpark for pricing.)

The printing cost and the wholesale discount required to get to a 40% discount for bookstores drives the list price too high. Trying to distribute and sell books at such prices is simply unrealistic.

Print Runs

Printing a run of books lets us offer a much lower list price while increasing the share for bookstores and authors. This next table is for the same book printed in a run of 2,000 copies.

List price	$14.99
Printing cost (incl. shipping from printer)	$3.16
Shipping to bookstore (approx.)	$0.90
Bookstore discount (47% of list price)	$7.05
Author’s compensation (12.5% of list price)	$1.87
Environmental donation (10% of remainder)	$0.20
Publisher (remainder)	$1.81

(Recalculated per book. The 47% is a fixed discount for all books. The rest is split so that the author gets the largest part and 10% of publisher’s share are donated to environment.)

This is a price point that bookstores might consider, especially given the above standard discount.

Other Options and Considerations

This model is also attractive for authors. If the author was to self-publish and sell only on Amazon, they would get less money than if they sold at a store: $14.99 list price minus the printing cost minus the minimum 30% IngramSpark discount leaves $0.92 of profit per book; just half of what can be achieved in our short run scenario.

Competition from Amazon is a big consideration. We believe we can ethically offer our books on Amazon if buying the same book at a store is cheaper. Unfortunately, Amazon makes this difficult by offering free shipping and preventing distributors from giving better discounts to other sellers.

Our solution is to act as a seller on Amazon. While this creates extra work and it is pricier for us, it lets us guarantee the book cannot be bought on Amazon without paying full price plus shipping. This gives bookstores an edge even when selling at list price, and the 47% discount creates additional room for discounting.

Conclusion

Printing runs allow us to work with local businesses and offer books at reasonable prices which means more books sold, combined with a higher percentage of the money going to the bookstores.

We’d love to hear your ideas, questions, and suggestions. Please contact us using the contact form or on Twitter.

Responsible Publishing

Sun, 27 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

We believe that responsible publishing should generously support artists, communities, and the environment. Therefore, we aim to follow and promote these principles:

New and worthy ideas continue to emerge; we give voice to content that has a beating heart and that would be missed in the world if it were not published.
Beautiful content deserves a beautiful form. We strive to design books that honor the artist’s vision and the craft of typography.
Producing physical books can coexist with caring for the environment. To balance our activity, environment conservation is integrated into our business model.
We recognize that retailers, bookstores, and libraries connect their communities. We support local businesses with favorable distribution conditions.
Authors deserve to keep the rights to their work and to be well compensated. We pass the majority of profits from books sold to their authors.

Tulip & Hound

PDF version

Giving Back to the Environment

Sat, 12 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Preserving our natural environment is one of the most important things that anyone can do or contribute to. Giving back to the environment has been high on our list even before we founded Tulip & Hound. We love books but we also love the trees and nature so contributing to the protection and restoration of the environment is an integral part of our business.

Where We Give

We believe that a good way to channel our effort is to focus on local initiatives and organizations. After all, it should be easier for everyone to be excited and care about the natural beauty that’s close to them. It is also easier to see and appreciate the results and to understand how the contributions effect a positive change.

The charities we are donating to are Jefferson Land Trust and Whidbey Camano Land Trust. Both of these organizations operate near our ‘home’ in the Pacific Northwest. At the same time, wherever your own home happens to be, you can look for ways to contribute to preserving the environment around you.

How We Give

Tulip & Hound is donating 10% of profits from all book sales to preserving the environment. This donation is on top of any book-specific donation where the author opts to support a charity of their choosing with a percentage of sale from every book sold, regardless of where and how it was bought.

We will be publishing an annual report about these donations, and we are also eager to hear your ideas and suggestions about the charities and initiatives you care about.

We believe that protecting the environment, supporting local businesses, and publishing great books are not mutually exclusive. As we try to do our small part, we want to express our deep appreciation of everyone engaged in preserving the environment.

Website Launch

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

It’s been a busy and exciting time. The first pre-release copies of Siren and the Serenade are printed and shipped. And while we’re waiting for the feedback from our first readers, we had a little bit of time to launch our website.

You can look forward to updates and posts that talk about what we do and why, and of course, about the upcoming book.

Get a Free Book

The first nice thing having a website allows us to do is give you all a chance to sign up to receive a free copy of the upcoming book by Angela Cummings. Every week, we’re going to select one lucky winner who is going to receive an advance copy of Siren and the Serenade. The giveaway will run until the book’s launch in February 2021, and we will even throw in a free shipping within the United States. Just sign up on the preview page with your email.